The Broken Fang
by FantasyWriter345
Summary: Kagome finds an unconscious man near the Goshinboku. The man turns out to be Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
1. Broken Honor

Chapter 1: Broken Honor

Konoha, Hatake Manor:

He couldn't take it anymore. The pain. The humiliation. The hatred. The disappointment. Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, couldn't take it. Not anymore. The pain of it all. It was too much to bear. During one of their important missions, he had two choices at that time: abandon your comrades and complete the mission or abandon the mission and save your comrades. Sakumo took the second choice. It didn't feel right to him to abandon his comrades. But the outcome of it was not of what he expected. Actually, he probably knew that this would happen if he abandoned the mission. The hatred among the villagers grew within each passing day. The disappointment from his comrades that he had saved sneered at him. Not to mention his own son, Kakashi, was disappointed in him as well. He began to distant himself from him. He knew that his son didn't liked being compared with his father. It was because of him that his son wasn't being accepted on any genin squad. Everything that has been happening to Kakashi…

Was his fault.

Perhaps it would be better if he left this world. Free of all this pain. He could be free.

* * *

A storm was brewing outside of his home. The thoughts of doubt began to enter his mind as he walked towards the living room. No one in the village will forgive him of abandoning the mission. They probably never will. But at the very least, he was able to save his comrades. Even though they weren't grateful towards him. He sat down, indian style, in the middle of the living room, looking at the closed doors as lightning flash on them. He unzipped his flak jacket and took out a kunai from his pouch; aiming it at his heart. There was no going back for him now.

"Live strong, Kakashi. Become a great shinobi...a better one...than me." Sakumo said softly as a stream of tears fell from his dark eyes. Then he plunged his kunai into his heart. It was excruciating. He twisted the kunai more, letting the blood flow from his wound and onto the floor. He fell onto his side, watching the lightning light up the room. The sound of thunder roaring and rain pouring outside somehow calmed him. His eyes slowly closed as the heat of his body began to fade away. Then everything turned black.

 _I'm sorry, Kakashi...I'm so sorry that I was a disappointment to you...please...forgive me..._

Those were Sakumo's last thoughts before he succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

Some say that broken objects can be fixed, but can a broken _person_ be fixed?

That question is the beginning of our story.


	2. A Fresh Start

Chapter 2: A Fresh Start

Feudal era, Japan:

"One, two, three, and heave!" Kagome said as she heaved her trusty yellow bag over the rim of the Bone-eater's well. It landed safely on the outside. Then she climbed out of the well as well. She stretched onto her tippy toes. She stared up at the sky, taking in the view of a clear blue sky. It had been four years since she had been traveling back and forth between her era and the feudal era. She had changed a lot since her first arrival. She no longer wore her school uniform. She wore priestess robes. The only difference that her hakamas were sapphire blue not red like Kikyo's. She was an expert swordsman, a great archer, and great at hand to hand combat. Sesshomaru trained her in swordsmanship while Sango helped her with hand to hand combat. Sesshomaru made a sword for her as a gift for their alliance against Naraku, the spider hanyō. This caused much annoyance to Inuyasha. But Kagome didn't care at all. Kagome had grown up as well while Inuyasha hadn't. Her heart no longer belonged to Inuyasha. She was tired of being compared to Kikyo.

"Kagome!"

Shippo's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder and saw Shippo and Kirara running towards her.

"Shippo! Kirara! It's so good to see you guys!" Kagome said as she kneeled down and hugged the two little demons who jumped into her open arms.

"We came to get you when you came through the well." Shippo said.

"Thanks you two." Kagome said.

"So how long can you stay this time?" Shippo asked.

"Luckily, it's springbreak and I got all of my schoolwork done before then. So I have about a week and a half." Kagome said.

"That's great!" Shippo said, "By the way, did you bring me some more lollipops?"

"I sure did. I also brought some more tuna for you, Kirara." Kagome said. Kirara mewed with excitement. Kagome knew that her favorite two tailed cat demon loved the tuna she brought back with her. She loved spoiling the two little demons in front of her. Suddenly, she felt an unfamiliar aura nearby.

"Kagome, what is it? Is there something wrong?" Shippo asked.

"I sense something." Kagome said.

"Where's it coming from?" Shippo asked.

"It's coming from...the Goshinboku." Kagome said. The three of them looked at each other and nodded. Then they followed Kagome to the Goshinboku.

* * *

As Kagome walked towards the Goshinboku, she remembered her first encounter with Inuyasha, a inu hanyou with a troubled past. At first he tried to kill her because he thought that she was Kikyo, his past lover, and then he tried to take the Shikon jewel from her. Thanks to the subjection beads, the jewel would been taken by Inuyasha and he would have been turned into a full fledged demon. Not to mention that she would have been killed. Unfortunately, she accidentally broke the jewel into thousands of pieces. Now, she was on a journey with her friends to find the jewel shards and put the jewel back together before Naraku uses the shards for evil.

When she arrived at the Goshinboku, she spotted a figure slumped against the Goshinboku roots. She rushed over and saw a man wearing strange looking clothes. She noticed that he had long spiky silver white colored hair which looked like it was tied back and probably goes down his back. He had deep lines underneath his eyes. She had noticed that he seemed very handsome in a rugged sort of way. Kagome didn't know how long she had been staring at him.

 _He's so handsome_. Kagome thought.

"Who's he and what's he doing here?" Shippo asked, breaking Kagome out of her contact with the handsome stranger.

"I don't know, but I feel like we shouldn't just leave him here like this." Kagome said when she spotted a big spot of blood on his chest.

"I'm starting to feel the same way." Shippo said.

"Well then, let's get him to the hut." Kagome said.

"Hai." Shippo said as he and Kirara nodded.

* * *

Later:

Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara had brought the unconscious man into the hut. Miroku did his best to undress the man. But with Sango's help he managed it. Kagome cleaned the wound near his heart and used her miko-ki to heal it. Strangely enough, his wound was very small when Kagome looked at it. The blood spot on his jacket made it look big. Right now, he looked peaceful as he slept in the futon. She began to wondered what he was dreaming of.

"You found him near the Goshinboku, Kagome?" Kaede asked, which broke Kagome out of her thoughts on the man.

"Hai." Kagome said, turning towards Kaede.

"I wonder what he was doing there." Kaede said as she poured everyone a cup of tea.

"I admit it's strange." Miroku said, placing his clenched fist underneath his chin. While Kaede was passing tea to all of them, Miroku was trying to think of how an injured man ended up at the Goshinboku. There was no blood trail that was lead to him and how is he still alive was a big question. The amount of blood he was losing and where his wound was, he should have been dead hours ago. Kagome had mention that he had a strange aura. But there was an even bigger question to the unconscious white haired man: who is he?

* * *

Warmth. He felt warmth covering his cold body. That was strange. How could he feel warmth? He swore that he was cold a moment ago. Was this the afterlife? Then he heard voices near him. He felt the presence of six people near him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a wooden ceiling above him. He placed his hand on his forehead, groaning at the soreness that was in his head and muscles. He turned his head to the side and saw six individuals staring at him. The first one he saw was a girl with long black hair with blue tints and cerulean blue eyes who was wearing priestess robes. The only difference was that her hakamas were sapphire blue. The one next to her was an old woman with an eyepatch over her right eye who was wearing priestess robes as well. Next to the old woman was another woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was dressed in a pink kosode with a green mo-bakama. There was a small kitten in her lap. The cat had red eyes and two tails. Next the woman was a man with black hair that was tied back in a small ponytail and violet purple eyes. He wore purple monk clothes. He spotted a small boy in the man's lap. But there was something odd looking about this young boy. He had chestnut colored hair and emerald eyes. Was that a fluffy tail behind him and were those his paws?

"Oh, good. You're awake, sir." The blue eyed girl said.

"Where am I?" Sakumo asked as he slowly sat up.

"In Edo, Japan, sir." The blue eye girl said.

"Edo? Japan?" Sakumo asked, confused.

"Hai. My friends and I found you at the Goshinboku." The blue eyed girl said.

"Goshinboku?" Sakumo asked.

"The God tree that resides in the forest near the village." The blue eyed girl said.

"The God tree?" Sakumo asked.

"I'm Kagome Higurashi by the way." Kagome said.

"I'm Shippo." Shippo said.

"I'm Sango and this is my friend, Kirara." Sango said. Kirara mewed at her name.

"I'm Miroku." Miroku said.

"And I'm Kaede." Kaede said.

"I'm Sakumo Hatake and it's a pleasure to meet you all." Sakumo said.

"Likewise, Sakumo-san." Kagome said. Then they all heard someone's stomach growl. Everyone looked at each other and then at Sakumo. He gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, I guess I haven't eaten in awhile." Sakumo said.

"Don't worry about it. How about some lunch?" Kagome asked with a smile.

"Lunch sounds like a great idea, Kagome-chan." Sakumo said.

* * *

"This stew is delicious, Kagome-chan." Sakumo said, smiling. The stew was indeed delicious. He had never tasted anything like this. It gave him a warm feeling inside. After she served him a bowl of stew, Kagome told Sakumo about their situation with the Shikon Jewel. He was intrigued by it. He was mostly intrigued by Kagome. He had never suspected a girl like her to be so strong, a powerful priestess no less. Strangely enough, she adopted a young demon as her son. Well after hearing about what happen to his father, he guess that the boy needed a mother figure in his life.

 _She has a pure heart. She didn't hesitant to adopt a kitsune cub in order to care for him_. Sakumo thought. He felt sorry for Sango and Miroku. Sango had lost her family and village to an evil hanyō named Naraku and Miroku is suffering from a curse that Naraku had placed on his family. When he heard more about this sinister being, he couldn't help but be furious with his crimes. To Sakumo's point of view, Naraku was just as worse as Orochimaru, the Snake-sannin.

* * *

"Thank you, Sakumo-san." Kagome said, returning Sakumo's smile. She was glad that his negative aura was gone. Now there was a calm and soothing aura in him. When she first found him, his aura was coated heavy with sadness and guilt. She wanted to ask, but she didn't want to invade his privacy.

"By the way Sakumo-san, what were ye doing at the Goshinboku?" Kaede asked.

"I don't know, Kaede-san. One moment I was dying and the next I woke up here." Sakumo said, finishing the stew and placing the bowl down. It did feel weird to him when he just woke up after being dead.

"Wait, dying?" Kagome asked, shocked. Everyone had the look of shock on their faces.

"Hai, I...committed suicide." Sakumo said in a downcast tone.

"Why would you do that, Sakumo-san?" Sango asked. Sakumo sighed.

"I'm a ninja. I lived in a shinobi village known as Konohagakure. Let's just say I have-or had a fearsome reputation. I was known as the White Fang of Konoha. Meaning that I would always accomplish my missions and I was praised for my powerful skills...except for my previous mission though." Sakumo paused, "I had a choice on my previous mission: abandon my comrades and complete the mission or abandon the mission and save my comrades. I took the second choice. I guess that the outcome of it wasn't going to be a good one."

"What do you mean?" Shippo asked, tilted his head to the side.

"Because of my failure to the mission, the villagers despised me. The comrades that I have saved sneered at me. My son, Kakashi, grew distant from me. I guess I was a disappointment to him." Sakumo said, looking down at his fists as they clenched the blankets. Everyone stared at Sakumo with sadness in their eyes. They couldn't help but pity Sakumo when they saw his crestfallen expression. Kagome could sense that his soul was starting to be coated in sadness once more.

"I think you did the right thing, Sakumo-san." Kagome said. Sakumo turned his head towards Kagome with shock.

"What?" Sakumo asked, shocked at Kagome's words.

"You cared about your comrades and you didn't want to abandon them." Kagome said, "That shows that you have a big heart."

"Really?" Sakumo asked as his dark eyes shook. Kagome nodded and scooted over to Sakumo's side of the futon.

"Hai. Everyone here would do the same." Kagome said, smiling softly. Sakumo felt his cheeks starting to warm up. Then he returned her bright smile. For some strange reason, he felt like all of his depression vanished. It was a good feeling.

"Sakumo-san." Kagome said.

"Hai?" Sakumo asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"How about you join us on our quest, Sakumo-san?" Kagome asked.

"Huh?" Sakumo asked, blinked.

"We could use your help, Sakumo-san." Miroku said.

"Really?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, we need all the help we can get." Kagome said.

Sakumo stared at the group of individuals in front of him. He felt hesitant on helping them on their quest. Well, they did take care of him when he was unconscious. If they hadn't found him he probably would have been found dead mostly likely. He didn't know why they would want his help. Afterall, most of his abilities had suffered when he fell into deep depression. But maybe he could start over in this world. Maybe everything will turn out okay at the end of the quest.

"I would be honored to help you and your friends in your quest to hunt the jewel shards, Kagome-chan." Sakumo said.

"We're very happy that you'll help us, Sakumo-san." Kagome said.

"Well, if you want to join us, you might need a weapon." Sango said.

"Actually, we can make a sword for you, Sakumo-san." Kagome said.

"You can?" Sakumo asked, confused.

"Hai, Sango's village can turn demons bones into weapons. She can help you get a new weapon." Kagome said.

"Well then, we'll go to Sango's village in the morning." Miroku said.


	3. A New Blade

Chapter 3: A New Blade

The next morning, the gang minus Inuyasha plus Sakumo went off to Sango's village. It had been a while for Sango since she hadn't been there since she had to repair her weapon. It hurt her heart whenever she step into the village. After all, no one else lived here except her and Kirara. But she was here with Kohaku when she found him after Naraku was presumed 'dead'.

"So what is the name of Sango's village, again?" Sakumo asked, breaking Sango out of her thoughts.

"The Yōkai Taijiya village." Kagome said.

"Interesting." Sakumo said.

"Thank you, Sakumo-san." Sango said.

"You're welcome. By the way, you said that you make weapons out of demon bones, right?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, my weapon is also made from a demon's bones." Sango said, pointing to her weapon.

"Interesting." Sakumo said. It intrigued him to no end to see that another creature's remains would be made into a weapon. He was already excited to get a new weapon.

"They're very powerful weapons as well. Even if you're not a priestess or monk, it would be good to have them on hand." Miroku said.

"Do they could in particular sizes?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, but you can change the shape of it. Well, only a little bit though." Sango said.

"Can you make one in the shape of a sword?" Sakumo asked.

"I think we can." Sango said.

"That would be great, Sango-chan." Sakumo said. Then everyone stopped at a fort of some sort. It almost looked like a place where bandits would stay. They walked through a somewhat opened wooden gate. When they entered, he saw that there weren't any signs of life in this village. But there were some remains of a battle that took place here. He remembered that Kagome had told him that all of the demon slayers were killed by Naraku's henchmen. He couldn't help but feel pity for Sango.

"Here we are, my home village, the Yōkai Taijiya village." Sango said.

* * *

At Kaede's village:

It had been a few days after Inuyasha had visited Kikyō. It felt good to see her whenever she was around. Strangely enough, Kagome didn't seem to mind that he went to see her. But it bugged him to no end when she was spending most of her time training with his annoying half brother, Sesshomaru. Not to mention that he was joining them on their journey. Then he entered the hut where his pack resided in. Unfortunately, they weren't there. Only Kaede was the remainder of the hut.

"Hey Kaede, where is everyone?" Inuyasha asked.

"They all went to Sango's village." Kaede said, making a herb paste.

"What? What they go there for?" Inuyasha asked, confused. He didn't know why Sango would go to her old village. Well, she probably went there to go and fix her weapon.

"They went to get Sakumo-san a new weapon." Kaede said.

"Who's Sakumo-san?" Inuyasha asked, his brow arched.

"He's a man that Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara found at the Goshinboku." Kaede said.

"At the Goshinboku?" Inuyasha asked, interested. He wondered what the man was even doing there in the first place before Kagome found him.

"Hai, Kagome and the others decided to let him join the group." Kaede said.

"WHAT?! You just let a complete stranger join our group?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Sakumo-san wanted to help Kagome for taking care of him when he was unconscious. To my point of view, he seems quite the gentleman and a strong one at that. With a little bit of training, he should be back to his original strength. Maybe he might get even stronger." Kaede said.

Inuyasha didn't like this man. For all he knew, this Sakumo might fall in love with Kagome. He didn't seem worthy. Actually, _no one_ was. But if he told Kagome that,...he would be sat straight to Hell. He shuddered at the thought of Kagome's angry face and saying 'osuwari' numerous times. He made sure to keep that comment to himself or he'll face the consequences. _Deadly_ consequences. Without any further thought, Inuyasha left the hut and headed towards Sango's village.

* * *

At Sango's village:

"This looks really good, Sango-chan." Sakumo said, gazing at his new sword. It looked a katana almost. The blade was perfectly balance and the hilt had a good grip on it. The weight of the sword didn't seem heavy, but yet it was for some strange reason.

"Thank you, Sakumo-san." Sango said.

"Would you like to train with me, Sakumo-san?" Kagome asked.

"Are you sure, Kagome-chan? I don't want to go too hard on you." Sakumo said, worried for Kagome's safety. He didn't know how well she was with the sword.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." Kagome said, smiling.

"If you're sure, Kagome-chan." Sakumo said.

Kagome and Sakumo stood across from each other with their blades ready. A breeze blew their hair and leaves danced amongst them. Then Kagome and Sakumo headed straight towards each other and their swords clashed against each other. It was that way for about an hour until Sakumo's sword was wrenched out of his hand and landed a few feet away from him. Kagome's sword was pointed at his chin.

"I win." Kagome said with a smile. Sakumo sighed when she lowered her blade. He knew it would take a while in order to get the hang of his swordsmanship. Well, his skills had dropped when he was in depression. So it would make common sense.

"Don't worry, Sakumo-san. If you mastered swordsmanship once, you can master it once more." Kagome said. Then she walked over and grabbed Sakumo's sword.

"Thanks, Kagome." Sakumo said, smiling a little as Kagome handed him his new sword.

"Okay then, let's do it again." Kagome said.

"Hai." Sakumo said, nodded.

* * *

Inuyasha was almost to Sango's village. He couldn't let this 'Sakumo' join them. He was already suspicious of him even though he hadn't met him yet. But he was determined to not let this man get close to Kagome. Not on his watch. Then he reached the village gates and entered the village. It was mostly quiet except he could hear the clacking sounds of a hammer against a metal. He walked towards where the sounds were coming from and saw Sango working on her sword.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Sango asked, looking up from her work.

"You all weren't at the village, so I had to come here to find all of you." Inuyasha said in a huff with his hands in his sleeves.

"I see." Sango said as she resumed her work.

"Hey, where's this Sakumo guy?" Inuyasha asked, looking all around himself.

"Training with Kagome." Sango said.

"WHAT?! Why are you letting her train with him?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"I assume you must of heard of Sakumo-sama from Kaede." Miroku said as he walked in to check on Sango.

"Yeah, I heard about him and _I_ say that we should just dumped him off at the village and continue on our way to find the jewel shards!" Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, you know that we need all the help we can get in order to defeat Naraku. Sakumo-sama is a welcomed addition to our cause. He already agreed to help us." Miroku said.

"But we don't know anything about him!" Inuyasha said.

"He suffered from a traumatic event in his life. So he's joining us in return for taking care of him when he was unconscious." Miroku said.

"I don't trust him." Inuyasha said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looked away.

"How about you meet him first before you judge him?" Miroku asked, brow arched. He had a slight feeling that Inuyasha didn't want another male in the group because there was a likely chance that Kagome might gain feelings from that person.

"No! I can already tell that he's not a trustworthy person! He might trick Kagome into giving him the jewel shards!" Inuyasha said.

"I don't see Sakumo-sama as someone who's interested in the jewel shards. To my point of view, he seemed to be an honest soul who's trying to make up for his past mistake." Miroku said.

"Whatever! I'm going to stop them now!" Inuyasha said before he took off in the direction where Kagome and Sakumo were training.

"Inuyasha! Come back here! Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled. Then he sighed.

"He'll never listen to anything that anyone says." Sango said, "I have a feeling that this isn't going to end well."

"I agree with you, Sango." Miroku said.

* * *

Inuyasha rushed towards where Kagome and Sakumo were training. He could hear the sounds of swords clashing against one another. When he got there, he saw Kagome fighting against a man. He looked a little bit older than Miroku. He had long silver white spiky hair that was tied back in a low ponytail. From where he could see, the man had coal colored eyes with deep lines underneath them. There was another thing that Inuyasha had noticed: the sword. From what he could smell, the weapon was made from the bones of a demon. Which mean that Sango had made that weapon for him. As he watched Kagome and Sakumo fight, he had to admit that Sakumo had some skills. Although he hated to admit it, Sesshomaru was a lot stronger than this Sakumo guy.

* * *

"I win once more, Sakumo-sama." Kagome said, pointing her sword at Sakumo's chin. This was the third time she had beaten him at sword play. Sakumo sighed again once Kagome lowered her blade.

"I admit that you're very skilled with a sword, Kagome." Sakumo said, retrieving his sword.

"Thank you, Sakumo-sama." Kagome said.

"Call me Sakumo, Kagome." Sakumo said, sheathing his sword.

"Sakumo." Kagome said. Sakumo smiled at that.

"So Kagome, where did you learn to fight so well?" Sakumo asked.

"Lord Sesshomaru." Kagome said.

"Inuyasha's half brother, right?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai, he's not so bad once you get to know him." Kagome said.

"I hope so, Kagome." Sakumo said.

"Yeah right!"

Kagome turned towards the direction of the voice. She recognized that voice. It was Inuyasha. Then he walked out of the forest and stood in front of Kagome and Sakumo.

"What are you doing here, Inuyasha? I thought that you were spending time with Kikyō." Kagome said.

"I arrived at the village and found out that you came here to give this guy a weapon." Inuyasha said.

"Hai, Sakumo is the welcomed addition to our team. He needed a new sword since he lost his old one." Kagome said.

"Well, _un_ welcome him. I don't want him in our pack!" Inuyasha said, scowling.

"Inuyasha, we need all the help that we can get in the upcoming battle with Naraku. I believe that Sakumo is a very capable warrior who is able to hold his own." Kagome said with her hands on her hips, "He's quite the gentleman as well."

"I'm a gentleman!" Inuyasha said, narrowing his amber colored eyes at Kagome.

"No, you're not. You don't like helping any villagers when they're trouble. You treat us like slaves. You always insult people as well. Shall I go on?" Kagome asked, brow arched.

"Fine! But I don't see why you're training with him anyway. Besides, you'll never be strong as Kikyō." Inuyasha huffed as he turned away with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Then there was a silence between the three. Not liking the silence, Inuyasha slowly turned his head towards Kagome. Her bangs covered her eyes and she was quiet which made his hair stand on end. To be most precise, it made him unsettled.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said.

"H-Hai?" Inuyasha asked, nervously. He didn't like the tone of her voice.

"OSUWARI!" Kagome shouted. Then Inuyasha went face first into the ground. He groaned at the pain of hitting into the ground. He should have known that would have happened to him sooner or later.

"Osuwari?" Sakumo asked, brow arched.

"The word of subjugation." Kagome said.

"Subjugation?" Sakumo asked.

"The beads that Inuyasha wears around his neck are the beads of subjugation. Whenever I say that word, Inuyasha always goes head first into the ground. He has to obey it no matter what." Kagome said.

"Interesting." Sakumo said as he rubbed his chin, "But why 'osuwari'?"

"Oh, well I thought the word suited him since he's an inu hanyō." Kagome said, smiling.

"I think it suits him as well." Sakumo said with a closed eye smile.

"Hey!" Inuyasha said when he lifted his head off the ground.

"Well, we'll train again tomorrow. Is that alright, Sakumo?" Kagome asked.

"Sure, I would like that, Kagome." Sakumo said, smiling softly at Kagome. For some strange reason, Kagome felt her cheeks warm up when she saw Sakumo smiling at her. The way he said her name was soothing as the ocean's breeze lightly brushing against her cheeks. What is this feeling she felt inside of her chest?


	4. Thoughts Under the Moonlight

Chapter 4: Thoughts Under the Moonlight

After two weeks of training, Kagome was confident that Sakumo would be able to travel with them to find the jewel shards. Although Inuyasha wasn't happy about Sakumo being with them. Unfortunately he was outvoted about the issue at hand. Right now, they're leaving Sango's village and headed out from there.

"Hey, Sakumo-san." Shippo said as he sat on Sakumo's right shoulder.

"What is it, Shippo-kun?" Sakumo asked.

"Are you sure that you want to travel with us?" Shippo asked.

"I'm positive, Shippo-kun. I have to repay you all somehow." Sakumo said with a closed eye smile.

"He can leave if he ever gets too scared or can't handle the job." Inuyasha said with his hands on the back of his head.

"Osuwari." Kagome said. Inuyasha went head first into the ground. Shippo sighed.

"He'll never learn." Shippo said.

"Perhaps so, young Shippo." Miroku said as he and the others walked past the 'grounded' hanyō.

"Does he always act that way around everyone?" Sakumo asked, curious.

"Unfortunately he does. But we have yet to find out the reason why though." Sango said.

"Wasn't he raised by his parents?" Sakumo asked.

"Inuyasha's father died the day he was born. His mother died a few years later and he was left on his own." Kagome said, sadly.

"I see." Sakumo said, sadly.

"Sakumo-san." Sango said, trying to change the subject at hand.

"Hai?" Sakumo asked.

"Do you...miss your village?" Sango asked.

"As a matter of fact I do, Sango-chan. But I mostly miss my son, Kakashi. I keep wondering how he's doing by himself." Sakumo said.

"I'm sure that he's fine, Sakumo-san." Shippo said.

"You think so, Shippo-kun?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai! I know he will be okay." Shippo said.

"Thank you, Shippo-kun." Sakumo said.

* * *

The journey to the next village was mostly a quiet one. But Sakumo made up for the quietness by telling the group about his village. All of them were very interested about except Inuyasha. The one thing that Sakumo left out was what a jinchūriki is and how they're treated. Considering that Inuyasha was a hanyō and the last thing they would need is Inuyasha getting into an argument with him.

"Konoha sounds like an interesting place." Kagome said.

"I think that Sandaime-sama would like all of you." Sakumo said.

"Thanks, Sakumo." Kagome said.

Suddenly, they heard screams up ahead and quickly ran towards them. When they got there, they saw a demon tearing up one of the fields while the villagers were running away from it. Kagome analyzed the demon to be an oni. A big and ugly one at that, too. Then she noticed a small pink glow in the middle of its chest. It was a jewel shard!

"What is that?" Sakumo asked when he saw the demon.

"That would be a demon, Sakumo-sama." Miroku said.

"I see. Then we must defeat it, right?" Sakumo asked.

"Hai." Miroku said.

"Alright then." Sakumo said as he unsheathed his sword. Everyone soon unsheathed and readied their weapons. Kirara turned into her larger form and Sango and Miroku got onto her back. Inuyasha unsheathed Tessaiga.

"Its got a jewel shard! So be careful, everyone! Okay, everyone ready?" Kagome asked as she readied her bow and arrow, "Let's go!"

Everyone headed towards the oni, but the one who got ahead of them was Sakumo. He was in front of the oni and the next they saw him on the other side of it. But then the oni's left arm came off and it screamed in pain. The oni tried to hit him with his remaining arm, Sakumo dodged it and headed towards the other arm. The arm fell off and the oni screamed in pain once more. Sango used her Hiraikotsu and severed the head off. Kagome hit the oni with her arrow which pierced it into the heart. The oni's body fell forward and soon turned to ashes. Kagome quickly ran over to the oni and retrieved the shard. It was instantly purified as soon as Kagome touched it.

"Another one purified." Kagome said as she put the shard in her bottle that she wore around her neck.

"That was amazing, Sakumo-san!" Shippo said, excitedly. Sakumo blinked in confusion.

"Those were very fast moves there, Sakumo-san." Sango said.

"Thanks." Sakumo looked away and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Don't get too cocky just because you cut off the oni's arms. Any other high level yōkai is able to do that." Inuyasha huffed.

"Osuwari." Kagome said. Inuyasha was slammed into the ground again.

"Shall we get going then?" Miroku asked.

"Good idea." Sango said. Then everyone turned towards the village that was up the road, leaving Inuyasha behind. As they walked, Kagome noticed that Sakumo was gazing at some of the damage that the oni caused.

"Don't you think that we should help the villagers with the damage?" Sakumo asked.

"We don't have time for that! We got more shards we need to find!" Inuyasha said with his hands behind his head as he walked ahead of them.

"Actually, Sakumo made a good suggestion." Kagome said, placing her finger on her chin.

"I agree." Sango said.

"I agree as well. We don't know where the next shard will be and it could be a good chance to stop and rest after we're done." Miroku said.

"It'll be a waste of time!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Osuwari!" Kagome shouted. Inuyasha got slammed face first into the ground.

* * *

Against Inuyasha's protests, the Inutachi group decided to help repair the damages that the oni had caused for the villagers. Kagome and Sango were helping the injured while Sakumo, Miroku, and Inuyasha helped out in the fields and repaired the houses. Shippo and Kirara entertained the children. Inuyasha was grumpy the entire time, which annoyed Kagome. So she sat him a few times until he decided to try and stay on her good side. Afterwards, the village decided to treat them for their hard work. Luckily, Sango whacked Miroku in the head before he requested women. That probably would have end up badly.

* * *

"Thank you for helping us." The village headman said.

"It's nothing, sir. It wouldn't be right to leave your village like that." Sakumo said with a closed eye smile.

"But still, we are very grateful towards you all." The headman said. Then the village girls brought out their meals. Each of them enjoyed the meal, but Inuyasha stole most of Shippo's fish.

"Hey! Give that back, Inuyasha!" Shippo yelled as he tried to reach for the fish.

"Nope. I'm bigger than you, so I need more energy than you." Inuyasha said, smugly. Then he ate the fish.

"Inuyasha, you're so cruel." Shippo began to tear up.

"Shippo-kun, you're welcomed to have the rest of mine." Sakumo said.

"Really?!" Shippo asked, excitedly.

"Hai." Sakumo said, nodded. Shippo quickly ran over to Sakumo who kindly put the rest of his fish onto Shippo's plate.

"Thanks, Sakumo." Shippo said as he stared at him with admiration.

"No problem, Shippo-kun." Sakumo said with a closed eye smile.

"You're a lot nicer than Inuyasha, Sakumo." Shippo said.

"Hey!" Inuyasha shouted as he stood up.

"Well it's true! You're always mean to me!" Shippo pointed at Inuyasha.

"He is right, Inuyasha." Kagome said, "But why are you always so mean to him?"

"It's none of your business, wench!" Inuyasha shouted. Kagome flinched at the name 'wench'.

"Inuyasha, that was very rude of you to call Kagome that." Sakumo said, sternly.

"Why the heck do you care?! You're not part of my group!" Inuyasha shouted as he pointed at Sakumo.

"According to Kagome, I am. Why do you have to be so cruel to your own friends, Inuyasha?" Sakumo asked. Everyone noticed how silent Inuyasha was being while he was gritting his teeth. Then he stormed out of the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause a fight between you all." Sakumo said.

"It's alright, Sakumo-sama. He'll come back once he's cooled down." Miroku said.

"Are you sure, Miroku?" Sakumo asked.

"I'm sure." Miroku said.

* * *

Later that night, Sakumo sat on the porch of the house while watching the full moon. He couldn't stop thinking about his old home in Konoha and his young son, Kakashi. He felt bad that he had now left him all alone. Then he began to think about the life that he was living now. He couldn't figure out why he was brought here in the first place.

"Can't sleep?"

Sakumo turned towards the voice and saw Kagome in her pajamas that were from her era. He didn't know how he didn't sense her.

"Hai. You as well?" Sakumo asked.

"Yeah, I had one heck of a nightmare." Kagome said as she sat down next to Sakumo.

"What was it about?" Sakumo asked, curious.

"Math." Kagome groaned.

"Do you hate math?" Sakumo asked as a sweatdrop appeared on the back of his head.

"Hai. I'm trying so hard to understand it, but with the shard hunting, it makes it impossible to remember everything." Kagome said and sighed.

"I see." Sakumo said.

"Every single time when I'm in the middle of studying, Inuyasha hurries me back here when I'm not ready at all." Kagome said as she stared at the ground, "All he cares about is Kikyō, gathering the jewel shards, and defeating Naraku."

"Kikyō?" Sakumo asked.

"Inuyasha's undead lover. I'm actually her reincarnation." Kagome said.

"How is she alive?" Sakumo asked, confused. How can someone who died years ago be alive once more?

"A clay witch stole Kikyō's ashes and made a clay body of her. Then the witch kidnapped me and ripped my soul out of me which entered Kikyō's body. I don't remember much of that encounter, however Shippo told me that my soul escaped from Kikyō and came back to me. But a bit of my soul remains in her body." Kagome paused, "So now, she uses her soul collectors to collect the souls of dead maidens in order to stay alive."

"I see. It must hurt that part of your soul is missing." Sakumo said.

"Hai, I know that Kikyō wants the rest of my soul, but I don't want to give it to her." Kagome said, "Not to mention that Inuyasha keeps comparing me to her. He keeps saying that I wouldn't measure up to her."

"Don't worry, Kagome." Sakumo said. Kagome looked up at Sakumo who was smiling softly at her, "I won't let Kikyō bring any harm to you. Besides, to my point of view, I say that you're much stronger than her."

Kagome started to blush pink on her cheeks. She never heard anyone, not even Inuyasha, say something like that to her. Well, he did say that he would protect her. But he probably wouldn't protect her from Kikyō. Afterall, he was still in love with her and Kagome was just her replacement if she died once more. Unfortunately, Kagome refused to become someone's replacement. No way, not happening. For some strange reason, her heart skipped a beat at Sakumo's words. It made her feel warm inside.

Sakumo felt sorry for Kagome. He couldn't believe that Inuyasha would be so cruel to his own packmates. He fully knew that they had to work as a team in order to defeat their enemies. Even though that there were a few shinobi in his world that were able to stand against many enemies on their own. But Naraku was a lot more powerful than any enemy he went up against.

 _If Inuyasha continues to fight alone, he won't stand a chance against Naraku._ Sakumo thought. Then he noticed that Kagome was rubbing her arms.

"Are you okay, Kagome?" Sakumo asked.

"I'm okay, just a little chilly is all." Kagome said. Unexpectedly, Sakumo wrapped his arm around her and pulled her onto his lap. Kagome blushed even harder than before as her head was placed on his chest.

"T-Thank you, Sakumo." Kagome said, nervously.

"You're welcome." Sakumo replied, "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm."

Kagome smiled and leaned closer to Sakumo's chest. She truly felt warm as he wrapped his arms around her. At that moment, the thoughts about Inuyasha and Kikyō no longer seem to matter. All she could think about was staying in Sakumo's big, strong arms that brought warmth to her small body.


	5. A Jealous Dog

Chapter 5: A Jealous Dog

It had been two days since the Inutachi group including Sakumo had left the village where they defeated the oni and helped repair it. During that time, Kagome and Sakumo were talking about Kagome's birth era. Sakumo was very curious about it. He would often say that there are a few things in Kagome's era also existed in his world as well. The whole time this was going on, Inuyasha was getting very, very aggravated. He didn't like how friendly Kagome was acting towards Sakumo. Actually, his whole pack was acting the same way. He couldn't figure out what makes this guy so special. What did Sakumo have that made everyone like him so easily? It didn't make any sense to him.

"Hey, Sakumo." Kagome said.

"Hai?" Sakumo asked.

"When I go back to the well to get some supplies, do you want to come with me and see my era?" Kagome asked.

"Sure, I would love to." Sakumo replied with a closed eye smile.

"NO!" Inuyasha shouted. Everyone stopped in their steps at his outburst.

"What do you mean 'no', Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned, brow arched.

"He's not allowed to go!" Inuyasha angrily yelled.

"You're not the boss of him, Inuyasha. I invited him. You don't have any say in it." Kagome retorted. Inuyasha's face started to turn angry red.

"Why don't you shut up?!" Inuyasha shouted as his hand was about to slap Kagome's cheek. But someone grabbed his wrist. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw that Sakumo had stopped Inuyasha from slapping Kagome.

"You shouldn't hurt your pack members, Inuyasha." Sakumo said, tightening his hold on Inuyasha's wrist.

"What's to you?" Inuyasha questioned.

"I thought that the leader of the pack respects and care for one another. You're showing the opposite for your pack." Sakumo stated.

"Why do you care? You're not part of _my_ pack." Inuyasha retorted.

"Well, Kagome said that I am." Sakumo confirmed. Inuyasha pulled his hand away from Sakumo's grip.

"Stop preaching me as if you're my father!" Inuyasha shouted, angrily.

"I'm just saying, Inuyasha." Sakumo reasoned.

"How about we rest for a moment?" Miroku asked, trying to break the argument between the two.

"Great idea, Miroku!" Sango agreed.

* * *

The group found a nice spot to rest. Kagome handed everyone out some snacks. But Inuyasha snatched the bag of chips away from Shippo.

"No fair, Inuyasha!" Shippo whined.

"Sorry, these are mine." Inuyasha smirked.

"You said that last time! Why do you keep taking the chips away from me?!" Shippo yelled.

"I'm bigger than you. So I need more energy." Inuyasha stated. Then he soon felt emptiness in his hands. He gazed at Shippo and saw Sakumo give the bag of chips to Shippo.

"Here you go, Shippo-kun." Sakumo said. Inuyasha frowned at the loss of the chips.

"Thank you, Sakumo-san!" Shippo said, smiling. He opened the bag of chips with eagerness.

"Here, Sakumo." Kagome said as she handed the canned tea to Sakumo.

"Thanks, Kagome." Sakumo said, accepting the tea.

It felt good for everyone to take a rest from the all day walking. However, Inuyasha thought of the opposite. To him, it was a waste of time, they should be finding more jewels instead of just resting. Maybe he should go and find Kikyō, then they could go find shards together. But he didn't want to leave Kagome alone with Sakumo. She was probably gaining feelings towards the guy, which he didn't want to happen. So he'll just stick around a little bit longer.

"Come on, let's go!" Inuyasha ordered as he stood up.

"Inuyasha, we just sat down." Kagome pointed out.

"Keh!" Inuyasha huffed and jumped into a tree and sat down.

"Here, Sakumo-san." Shippo held the bag out for Sakumo.

"Thank you, Shippo-kun." Sakumo said as he reached into the bag and took out a few chips.

"You're welcome." Shippo said.

Inuyasha was growing more and more irritated towards Sakumo. This guy easily won over _his_ pack who was suppose to be respecting _him_.

* * *

After they were done with their break, they were back on the road, which was a relief to Inuyasha's point of view. They walked for the entire day and still found no demons or jewel shards.

"How about we camp for the night?" Sakumo suggested when the sun was beginning to set.

"Good idea." Kagome agreed.

"What?! Why do we need to stop?!" Inuyasha argued.

"Inuyasha, it's almost dark. It would take awhile to set up camp and everyone needs to rest." Sakumo pointed out. "I know that you want to keep going. But most of your members of the pack are human."

Inuyasha gritted his teeth at the fact that three members of his pack were humans while Shippo and Kirara are demons. He grunted at the fact. He guessed that he had no other choice.

"Fine!" Inuyasha barked.

His pack members sighed in relief. They would finally get to rest. Later, they were setting up camp when Inuyasha stood.

"Look out for everyone." Inuyasha demanded before he disappeared into the woods.

"Kikyō is nearby." Kagome hinted. The others sighed with disappointment. Inuyasha was always doing this; leaving them behind to defend for themselves while he goes and have a _leisurely_ time with Kikyō.

"When will he ever look out for everyone in _his_ pack?" Shippo asked.

"I have no idea, Shippo." Kagome stated as she cooked the fish.

Then she felt a familiar aura nearby. She smiled as she stood up when Sesshomaru and his pack came into their campsite.

"Kagome-chan!" Rin yelled as she got off Ah-Un and ran towards Kagome who embraced her in a hug.

"Hello Rin." Kagome smiled and looked back up at Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru-sama, it's a pleasure to see you." Kagome greeted.

"It's a pleasure as well, miko." Sesshomaru said. "This Sesshomaru couldn't join earlier because I had to fix a few things back at my estate."

"It's alright, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome said. She noticed that Sesshomaru had turned his attention towards Sakumo. "This is our new ally, Sakumo Hatake. Sakumo, this is Sesshomaru-sama, he is our ally against Naraku."

"It's an honor to meet you, Sesshomaru-sama." Sakumo said as he bowed towards Sesshomaru.

"Hn." Sesshomaru responded. Sakumo sweatdropped at his response. He remembered some of the Uchihas that he knew in Konoha said the exact same phrase. Sesshomaru spotted the sword that was strapped to Sakumo's back and smelled demons coming from it. He figured it must be a demon slayer's weapon. He was glad that this human had manners.

"Hi, Sakumo-san. My name is Rin." Rin said, which caught Sakumo's attention. He knelt down at her eye level.

"Hello Rin, it's nice to meet you." Sakumo introduced with a closed eye smile.

"Are you a strong swordsman, Sakumo-san?" Rin asked.

"Yes I am. But I'm still trying to get in the hang of it." Sakumo admitted.

"In other words, you're weak." Jaken stated.

"Jaken, that was mean!" Rin cried out.

"Well, it must be tr-" Jaken was interrupted when Kagome kicked him like a soccer ball which sent him flying and landed somewhere in the woods.

"Sorry about that. Jaken doesn't know when to shut up sometimes." Kagome said.

"Don't worry about it." Sakumo stated.

"Don't believe any of Jaken's words, Sakumo-san. He's always so mean towards new people." Rin stated.

"It's okay, Rin. I known that I'll get stronger." Sakumo said.

"Hai!" Rin said with a closed eye smile.

"Where is the hanyō, miko?" Sesshomaru questioned when he noticed that Inuyasha was nowhere near his pack.

"Give a guess." Kagome said.

"The dead miko?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"Yup." Kagome answered.

"Foolish hanyō." Sesshomaru stated.

"Yeah." Kagome agreed.

"So you're a swordsman as well, Sesshomaru-sama?" Sakumo asked when he noticed the two swords near Sesshomaru's waist.

"Yes, I inherited one of my father's sword" Sesshomaru answered as he unsheathed his Tenseiga. Sakumo gazed at it with amazement. Then Sesshomaru sheathed it.

"But the other one I had commissioned." He said as he unsheathed Tōkijin.

"Interesting." Sakumo said. Then he heard a stomach growl and he turned to Kagome. She chuckled nervously while slightly blushing.

"Well, since we're all here, let's get something to eat." Kagome declared.

" **Yay!** " Rin and Shippo cheered.

Soon everyone except Inuyasha began eating the boar that Sesshomaru was able to get for them. The only one who wasn't eating was Sesshomaru. Kagome explained to Sakumo that demons don't eat much as a human since they don't require that much energy. During the meal, Sakumo told the group about his adventures with his old friend Jiraiya. To Miroku, he was his idol. But to Kagome and Sango, a _huge_ pervert. At that moment, Inuyasha arrived.

"What the heck is going on here?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Well, we have just finished dinner." Miroku answered.

"WHAT?! How come you didn't leave any for me?!" Inuyasha shouted.

"You weren't here. Besides, they needed the energy more than you. So why should they wait for you?" Sesshomaru concluded. Inuyasha snapped his head towards Sesshomaru and glared darkly at him.

"WHAT'S HE DOING HERE?!" Inuyasha shouted as he pointed at Sesshomaru angrily.

"I invited him." Kagome answered with a deadpan look.

"Well _un_ invite him because he's not welcomed!" Inuyasha barked angrily.

"Yes he is. He also kindly got us a boar for our dinner," Kagome stated, "In which you failed to get us."

Inuyasha began to turn angry red in the face as he marched over to Kagome. He swung his hand towards Kagome. Just before it reached her face, a hand grabbed onto Inuyasha's wrist. Kagome looked to the owner of the one who held onto Inuyasha's wrist and saw Sakumo.

"What?!" Inuyasha exclaimed. He didn't think that Sakumo was that fast to stop his hand.

"You should never harm your comrades, Inuyasha." Sakumo warned, gripping tightly on Inuyasha's wrist.

"I can treat my pack members however I want!" Inuyasha yelled, trying to escape Sakumo's grip. Everyone else froze at that moment. They couldn't believe that Inuyasha had said that to his own pack members. Sesshomaru was just as shock as they were, however he didn't show it. He always knew that the hanyō was dishonorable, but not _this_ dishonorable.

"Then I guess you're not a member, Inuyasha." Kagome stated with her bangs covering her eyes.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha screamed.

"Just go with Kikyō," Kagome demanded. "I'm sure that she'll be thrilled to have you with her."

"Fine!" Inuyasha shouted as Sakumo let go of him. Then Inuyasha stormed back into the forest. No one spoke as they watched the stubborn dog demon leave his pack and disappeared into the night alone.

* * *

 _The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves._

~William Penn


End file.
